Victoria Chang

Victoria Chang is an American poet and children's writer. Her fifth book of poems, OBIT, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2020. Her prior book of poems, Barbie Chang, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2017. Her third book of poetry, The Boss was published by McSweeney's as part of the McSweeney's Poetry Series in July 2013—it won a PEN Center USA literary award and a California Book Award. Her second poetry collection is Salvinia Molesta (University of Georgia Press, 2008). Her first book, Circle (Southern Illinois University Press, 2005), won the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry.

She also writes picture books for children and middle grade novels, and her picture book, Is Mommy? published by Beach Lane Books (Simon & Schuster) in the fall of 2015, illustrated by Marla Frazee, was named a New York Times Notable Book. Her middle grade verse novel, LOVE, LOVE was published by Sterling Publishing in 2020. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017, a Lannan Residency Fellowship in 2020, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Fellowship in 2017, a Poetry Society of America Alice Fay di Castagnola Award in 2018, a Pushcart Prize, and a MacDowell Fellowship.

Life

Victoria Chang was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1970 and raised in the suburb of West Bloomfield. She first became interested in poetry in elementary school, where her school put on a poetry contest. She enjoyed creating surprise endings. Her parents were immigrants from Taiwan. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in Asian Studies, Harvard University with an MA in Asian Studies, and Stanford Business School with a MBA. She also has an MFA in poetry from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers where she held a Holden Scholarship. She worked for Morgan Stanley in investment banking, Booz Allen & Hamilton in management consulting, and others.

She lives in Los Angeles and spent her business career working in marketing and communications. She now focuses on writing and teaching. She teaches at Antioch University's MFA Program and helps to run the program with a team, and she co-coordinates the Idyllwild Writers Week. She also serves on the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Her work has appeared in literary journals and magazines including The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast,Virginia Quarterly Review, Slate, Ploughshares, and The Nation, and Tin House.

Honors and awards

• 2020 Lannan Foundation Residency Fellowship
• 2019 MacDowell Fellowship
• 2018 Pushcart Prize
• 2018 Housatonic Book Award for Barbie Chang
• Poetry Society of America's Alice Fay di Castagnola Award 2017
• Sustainable Arts Foundation Fellowship 2017
• Guggenheim Fellowship 2017
• IS MOMMY? named a New York Times Notable Book in 2015
• 2014, The Boss winner of a 2014 PEN Center USA Literary Award
• 2014, The Boss winner of a 2013 Commonwealth California Book Award (Silver Medal)
• 2004 Crab Orchard Review Open Competition Award
• Salivinia Molesta Finalist for the 2008 Commonwealth California Book Award
• Circle, Winner of the Association for Asian American Studies Book award
• Circle, finalist for the PEN Center West Book Award
• 2007 Ploughshares Cohen Award
• 2005 Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Fellowship
• 2005 Sewanee Writers' Conference Fellowship
• 2003 Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Scholarship

Published works

Full-Length Poetry Collections

• OBIT, published in 2020 by Copper Canyon Press
• Barbie Chang, published by Copper Canyon Press, 2017
• The Boss, McSweeney's Poetry Series, 2015
• Salvinia molesta: poems. University of Georgia Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-8203-3176-8.
• Circle. Southern Illinois University Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8093-2618-1.

Children's Books

• Love Love, Sterling Books, forthcoming
• Is Mommy?. Beach Lane Books. 2015. ISBN 978-1481402927.

Anthologies Edited

• Victoria M. Chang, ed. (2004). Asian American poetry: the next generation. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07174-4.

Anthology Publications

• Paul Muldoon; David Lehman, eds. (2005). "Seven Changs". The Best American Poetry 2005. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-5738-1.

External links

• Author's Website
• Author's Blog
• Interview: every other day > 13 June 2006 > Victoria Chang Interview
• Audio: Victoria Chang Reading for From the Fishouse
• "Drawing New Circles: Dialogue with Victoria Chang", Emprise Review
• "The Guests". Threepenny Review. Summer 2005.
• "Love Poem as Eye Examination". The Missouri Review.
• "Proof". Ploughshares. Spring 2006. Archived from the original on February 17, 2007.
• "Spring Planting". Ploughshares. Spring 2006. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007.